The Train Ride
by Sam Pembroke
Summary: Two days after she arrives in the Bukater household, Emily finds herself on a train with Ruth,Rose, and Elizabeth. I will probably rewrite this in the future, but please read and review. I thank all of you for your comments on my stories..


THE TRAIN RIDE

Sam Pembroke

Ruth, Rose, Emily; Elizabeth, and Sadie boarded the train to Gregstown on that rainy morning. "Rose, why don't you take the window, Elizabeth, you sit in the middle and Emily dear, you sit on the end. Sadie and I will sit on this side." Ruth said as she gestured for the children to sit. As they sat down, Emily took a look around the car; in it there were people of all sizes and heights. _"Not like the trip from Brattleboro."_ She thought to herself. She hadn't even been with the Bukater's for two days when she was thrust onto _this_ train, to see these people whom Rose called her grandparents. She looked out the window, far to her right and saw that the train was moving. "_Get me off; I've had enough trains for a lifetime! I don't even know these people."_ Emily continued thinking to herself. As she continued looking out the window she felt something rest upon her shoulder; it was Elizabeth. "_Oh boy, just hope she doesn't drool. She does look comfortable though."_ Emily thought to herself, although she hated to admit it, she began to like Elizabeth more as the seconds passed.

Ruth glanced over at the three girls as they sat in their seats. _"Elizabeth is out cold already, good; she was getting to be stubborn, she was up late last night, and now she is getting the rest she deserves."_ Ruth quietly said to herself. As they crossed the Peter River and out of the city, Rose thought of a song she heard once as she saw the industrial areas along the tracks. She remembered that at the beginning, it sounded like a drill sergeant commanding recruits; but then the lyrics were _"Well I hide my eyes from the morning sun, and I keep on working till the work is all done, but a voice in my head keeps ticking away, while the sweat's hosed down from yet another day, and he works hard, and he lives hard; and he breaks his back without nothing to gain, while the boss man sits around and drinks champagne; all day."_ All day, the lyrics rang in her head. She became bothered by it, maybe it was the thought of her father commanding ships, or even her mother, and how she could sometimes be a problem.

Two hours into the trip, Ruth looked over at Elizabeth, how peaceful she looked sitting there. "It's time to wake her up, let's hope it will be easy, although knowing her, she can be so stubborn." She said quietly to herself. She motioned for Rose to wake her sister up. Rose nudged Elizabeth, who gently awoke, much to both Rose and Ruth's surprise. "Where are we Rose? She asked her sister. "Elizabeth, we're just about to reach our destination." She said softly. Emily looked at Elizabeth; how fragile she must be, for at age ten, she wasn't allowed to do much. She even had these odd habits, such as talking to herself, but then again, so did Emily when she would play with her dolls. The real reason they were going to Gregstown, was that Ruth wanted Rose to see her grandparents, and the whole reason Emily came along, was so that she could meet them after all those years. As for Elizabeth, well she was going to undergo psychiatric testing, ironically by Emily's adopted father, John Langdon.

The very thought of having her mind tested would have made Elizabeth very nervous, so Ruth disguised this trip as a family visit. That was the last thing she wanted, was to have her ten year old turn on her. As the train pulled into the station, Ruth wondered how she'd get through to Elizabeth about the whole testing issue. _"I'll cross that bridge when I get there."_ She thought to herself as she rounded up her girls, Sadie, the nanny gathered them into a group, and they proceeded off of the train, and onto the platform. The rain still hadn't let up and their hats had done little to protect them from the rain. They had arrived, and now they would commence their visit. Top Emily, she was in a strange place; everyone looked so strange, even the Bukater's were strange to her. Little did she know that she was actually one of them.


End file.
